Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, How Happiness Happens (p. 19). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And we all want and need to be encouraged and encouragers, don’t we? Max says, “Their efforts pay high dividends. Decades of marriage research led Dr. John Gottman to identify an interesting characteristic of happy couples. Healthy homes enjoy a positive-to-negative ratio of five to one. In other words, for every negative comment or criticism, there are five acts or words of encouragement. 1 “Similar results were found among business teams. One study of effective leadership styles revealed that high-performing teams experienced a positive-to-negative ratio of nearly six positive comments for every negative one. Low-performing teams, conversely, had an average of three negative comments for every positive one.” 2 He goes on, “Intentional encouragement has affected my life. Three years into my role as se

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, How Happiness Happens (p. 8). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It really is. A beautiful smile! Max says, “You can’t control your genetics. You aren’t in charge of the weather, the traffic, or the occupant of the White House. But you can always increase the number of smiles on our planet. You can lower the anger level in your city. You—yes, you—can help people to sleep better, laugh more, hum instead of grumble, walk instead of stumble. You can lighten the load and brighten the day of other human beings. And don’t be surprised when you begin to sense a newfound joy yourself. That’s what this book is about: the unexpected door to joy. “And standing at the entryway to welcome you is Jesus of Nazareth.” Max goes on, “Jesus was accused of much, but he was never ever described as a grump, sourpuss, or self-centered jerk. People didn’t groan when he appeared. They did

A thought by Max Lucado from his book, How Happiness Happens (p. 4). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is a great question, isn’t it? Max says, “Maybe your answer is ‘I feel that way all the time.’ If so, God bless you…   For many, perhaps most of us, the answer is ‘Well, it’s been a while. I used to be happy, but then life took its toll.’” Later he says, “The oft-used front door to happiness is the one described by the advertising companies: acquire, retire, and aspire to drive faster, dress trendier, and drink more. Happiness depends on what you hang in your closet, park in your garage, mount on your trophy wall, deposit in your bank account, experience in your bedroom, wear on your wedding finger or serve at your dining table. Happiness happens when you lose the weight, get the date, find the mate, or discover your fate. It’s wide, this front door to happiness.” Max says, “There is another option.